Sentai
Information Quotes CV: Sakura Ayane Sentai Sendai(First Remodel) Sendai(Second Remodel) Background Sentai Located on Mt. Aoba. Before the Date clan built the much more famous Sendai Castle, a castle named Sentai already existed on the site. It was named after a practice of construction 1000 miniatures of the Buddha(sentaibutsu). An example of it can be seen here. It served as the home castle of the Shimazu clan in Mutsu(relation to the Satsuma Shimazu clan is unknown) from late Kamakura Period to mid Muromachi Period. In Late Muromachi Period, the Kokubun clan gained ownership of the castle. Sendai(First Remodel) Renamed to "Sendai" (千代, Lit. 1000 generations), presumably an auspicious name for family prosperity. Kokubun Morishige, an uncle of the famous Date Masamune, succeeded the Kokubun clan and inherited the Sendai castle. However, he later came in conflict with Masamune and was driven out of the clan. Morishige fled and Sendai castle was abandoned. Sendai(Second Remodel) After the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu granted Date Masamune the permission to construct the Sendai Castle today on the old Sendai site. Construction began on 1601. The castle and the region were renamed from Sendai(千代) to Sendai(仙台, Lit. pedestal of celestial beings). One theory for the origin of the name is that it came from a Chinese poem that was popular in Japan at the time. One line reads "仙台初見五城樓". Her alternative name "Gojourou"(五城樓) also came from this poem. Because she was built on Mt. Aoba, she is also known as "Aoba Castle" (though she is not named after the same Mt. Aoba as the Japanese heavy cruiser in World War II). The castle was of enormous scale(the game info claims that she was the largest castle ever built in Japan). Sebastián Vizcaíno, a Spanish explorer, commented that Sendai Castle was one of the greatest strongholds of Japan at the time. However, as a peacetime castle(it was constructed after the Sengoku period was practically over), it was constructed with the suitability for administrated purposes in mind, instead of defensive purposes. Contrary to the trend of castles at the time, Sendai contained a tenshu stand, but did not contain an actual tenshu. Plans for the tenshu were drawn, but only the foundation base was ever built. The construction of the castle was eventually completed by Date Tadamune in 1637. After completion, the castle served as the headquarters of the Date clan and administrative center of Mutsu Province under the Tokugawa Shogunate. Toward the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Sendai served as a center of Ouuetsu Reppan Doumei, or "Alliance of the domains of Mutsu ,Dewa and Echigo" that fought against the New Government Army of Meiji. It was surrendered to the New Meiji Government and was partially dismantled in the 1870s, and the grounds were given over to the Imperial Japanese Army, who used it as the base for the Sendai Garrison (later the IJA 2nd Division). A large fire in 1882 destroyed many of the remaining structures of the castle. In 1902, a Shinto shrine, the Gokoku Shrine (護国神社) honoring the war dead, was established. In 1931, two of the few remaining structures of the castle, the Omotemon Gate and the Wakiyagura tower, were designated as National Treasures by the Japanese government. However, these structures and all else in the castle were destroyed completely on July 10, 1945 by the United States during the Bombing of Sendai during World War II. During the occupation of Japan, the castle site came under the control of the United States Army, which razed any remaining Edo period structures. It was returned to Japan in 1957. In 1961, the Sendai City Museum was built on the site of the San-no-Maru enclosure. Over the next decades, stone base, some walls, and some wooden structures, have been rebuilt to increase the tourist potential of the site, and in 2006, Sendai Castle was designated one of the 100 Fine Castles of Japan. Evolution Table Trivia * Sendai II had the highest attack among all fast melee sword unites in game at the game's inception. After the December 2014 event the final reward castle Kasugayama replaced her as No.1 in attack. However, as a plains-mountain castle, she is often more versatile in deployment than Kasugayama, who is a mountain-only castle. * Sentai and Sendai(first remodel) appear to have taken the personalities of the Kokubun clan owners as devout Buddhists. * Sendai II takes the personality of Date Masamune, a very prominent figure in the Sengoku Period. Almost every one of her in game line is a reference to Date Masamune. * Appearance wise, Sendai II takes many elements from the actual castle or the castle's region. **Her hat represents the gable in the main castle keep's reception hall. ** Her sleeves carry the Miyagi Prefecture's prefectural flower, Miyagi-no-hagi. ** The lower part of her robe is a reference to two painting, one by Kanou Sakyou on a wall of the inner citadel of the actual castle, another by Azuma Touyou on a wall of the outer citadel. ** In secretary form, her robe is a reference to a painting by Sugai Baikan, an artist who was born in the Sendai region. He and Azuma Touyou were among the "Four Greatest Artists of Sendai" in the later Edo Period. ** The golden cross on her robe is a reference to Date Masamune's affiliation with Christianity. * Sendai II and Aizu-Wakamatsu seem to both think that the famous song "Koujou no Tsuki" was written for themselves, leading to in game quarrels. This is because the author of the song, Taki Rentarou, never made this clear. The song can be heard here. *Her voice actress is Sakura Ayane, who is famous as the voice actress of Sendai, the light cruiser in the game Kantai Collection. It is likely that this was intended to be an inside joke for players of both games. See Also Gallery of Sentai Chain Wikipedia Info Category:Castles Category:Katana Class Category:Mountain Castle Category:Plains-Mountain Castle